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"should be treated with indignity, is disgraceful to Germany, "beyond all expression!"

After the contempt of all justice and right, evinced in the Prussian monarch's mode of dealing with the Rhenish provinces and his Lutheran subjects, it will not have excited much surprise that he should treat the universities with similar harshness. But the nation can scarcely have been prepared for the open declaration made by the heir-apparent, of his participation in his father's sentiments. The crown-prince of Prussia, in an autograph letter to the university of Königsberg, of which he is the rector, avowed his concurrence in the reprehension of the honours conferred on the proscribed Aibrecht, as conveyed in the letter of the Minister.

What a touching contrast does the conduct of the people in Germany present, at this trying moment, to that of their rulers! While the war-note of discord and anarchy is sounded by despots and bigots from the Rhine to the Elbe and the Warta, the Germans, we may say of all classes, have preserved a dignified silence, and have neither allowed themselves to be terrified nor seduced into violent remedies. The reason of this calm bearing in the people is, that they are more enlightened than those who arrogate the task of leaders amongst them. The Germans wish neither to be priestnor despot-ridden; their endeavour is not after victory in religious or civil broils; they wish to secure the enjoyment of rational liberty. Thus all attempts have hitherto failed to entangle them in the net so cunningly woven. The exertions of a Romish faction disguised under the mask of liberalism, and of Protestant tyrants who would extend their despotic sway over the unchainable consciences of their subjects, have alike proved unable to shake the firmness of an enlightened but ill-used people. How long the Germans will continue to resist the temptations to anarchy which are unceasingly displayed by the organs of the various factions, it is difficult to conjecture. Newspapers, under the titles Protestant and Catholic, have for more than a year been established, and have met with unparalleled success. The Prussian court has, on its side, not been idle. The Russian emperor, under whose ægis the future aggrandizement of Prussia is to be achieved, was

invited ("Deus ex machina") to solve the complicated intrigue of this mighty farce, in which a powerful nation is made to play the part of puppets in the hands of heartless tyrants and factious hirelings. Will not the insulted feelings of the Germans break out, sooner or later, in some burst of direful vengeance, if they be much longer goaded in the manner that they now are, and all influence be taken from the enlightened classes, as it now is by the proscription of those who display moral energy whether in writing or in action? If power is to be to the strong, can the German governments be blind to the consequences of rousing the passions of the mass of the people?

As friends to humanity we rejoice sincerely in the calm demeanour hitherto preserved by a nation which ranks so high in the scale of civilization, and hail the undeniable proof afforded by its conduct, that the diffusion of instruction is the firmest guarantee of social order. But we trust their patience will not be put to too severe a test. How much better would the exertions of France to quell revolutionary intrigues in the Swiss Cantons be employed in bringing the crowned disturbers of the public peace in Germany to listen to reason! Were reasonable freedom of discussion attained, and the liberty of the subject established on a sound footing in Germany, Switzerland would cease to be a hot-bed of political excitement, and those powers, which are now forced from their proper path into the by-ways of turbulence and sedition, would contribute to the advancement and consolidation of the blessings of civilization which they now menace with destruction. Even Great Britain can at length scarcely refrain from interfering to prevent the total suppression of liberty in Germany, if it be threatened by foreign powers; and under the present circumstances of that country, even Austria must be regarded as a foreign state. The power of Austria lies in that portion of her population which is not German, and which never had any sympathies with the Germans,-in her Slavonic, Hungarian and Italian subjects. As these can never expect to be acknowledged as umpires in a dispute between the German people and their rulers, all moral influence which Austria could exert in the case before us falls to the ground. The votes given by Austria and Prussia in the diet to which we

before alluded, have deprived them of the pretext to interfere in the affairs of Hanover as members of the Germanic federation. It consequently remains only for the Germans to contend with the predominant influence of Prussia, and a comparison of the resources of the constitutional states with those of that country, will show that, as soon as all hope of foreign support is cut off, Prussia is by no means so formidable as is generally supposed :

States.

Hanover,

Saxony,

Bavaria,

Würtemberg,

Baden,

Electorate of Hesse,
Grand Duchy of Hesse,
Brunswick,
Nassau,

Saxon Duchies,

Prussia,

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13,900,000 97,000,000 24,700,000 43,200,000

If we add the Hanse-towns, Prussia is clearly the weaker of the two parties.

The direct taxes in Germany are a draft from the life-blood of its population. They do not rest, as in England, upon the landed proprietor and capitalist; the industry of the people, whether agricultural or manufacturing, is by the nature of the tenures of land and the financial system made to bear a heavy share of the burden. Under these circumstances, the proportion which these taxes bear to the total revenue of the state furnishes a criterion to judge of the paternal disposition of the government, as their appropriation is the best evidence of its observance of due economy. The expenditure of the military department in Prussia is here shown to be nearly double the amount of these hard-wrung taxes, whereas in nearly all the constitutional states it remains below their figure. In Bavaria, where the cost of the army approaches nearest to the sum of the direct taxes, these imposts do not exceed two-ninths of the whole revenue; in Hesse, where it exceeds the amount of these taxes, they are less than one

fifth of the revenue; whereas in Prussia they are more than a quarter of the income of the country.

The influence of Prussia in Germany is thus proved to be solely in proportion to the greater cost of her army; that is to say, it lies in the greater number of cavalry and artillery which she is able to bring into the field on an emergency, than can be furnished by the constitutional states, these being the branches demanding the greatest expenditure. But, if the Germans" shame not their sires," they must be able to face greater odds than these in a cause in which their hearts are interested; and thus the physical as well as moral power of Prussia, when she stands alone, as the oppressor of their liberties, vanishes like an unsubstantial phantom. Now, that, in the enviable position which the Prussian monarch has chosen, care ought to be taken that he should stand alone, must be evident to all who desire a continuance of the peace and the progress of civilization in Europe; and we trust that, since by the decision of the Diet of Frankfort, the complaint of the subjects of the king of Hanover has been rejected unheard, and the French and English ministers in that city are released from the duty of watching over the proceedings of that assembly, the representatives of these two powers in Berlin, Vienna and Petersburg, will receive instructions to declare that the violation of the Hanoverian frontier by the troops of ANY POWER WHATEVER, will be looked upon as an attempt at conquest by which the balance of power in Europe is endangered. Once freed from the long-endured dread of northern and eastern interference, under which every exertion of the Germans to assert and enjoy the rights of members of the civilized community of Europe have hitherto been paralysed, we shall see them assume a different attitude in the political world; and thus the loss experienced by the blotting-out of Poland from the list of civilized states, though it will ever be felt, may in some degree be repaired.

The experience of the last few months has shown that, amidst the fluctuations to which our political relations with neighbouring states are exposed, the consolidation of a power in central Europe, which should be actuated by the influence of enlarged and enlightened views, and consequently equally remote from being the tool of despotic caprice or of the tur

bulence of an ignorant rabble, would be an immense gain for the repose of Europe. Is not so desirable a member of our social system in Europe presented to us in Germany? Is not the mass of the people in the confederated states enlightened, and has not a great deal been done in them to impose a salutary control on the arbitrary power of their sovereigns? Why, then, should we disregard so acceptable and so useful an ally? Some persons, no doubt, think that a country subdivided into so many states can never display sufficient energy to command respect from its enemies or to be useful to its allies. But all we want is a repressive power. We do not seek to call up a new nation of conquerors; of such our quarter of the globe has already more than its share. We want a nation possessing the elements of civilization and prosperity, with the will to cultivate these advantages. We should rejoice to see such a country, by a pacific policy and unremitting industry in mental as well as material speculations, rise in uninterrupted prosperity, and by its example alone shame into a like course of policy, those governments who seek to uphold their ill-gotten power by strewing the dazzling sand of conquest and unfruitful extension of empire in the eyes of their ignorant subjects. The very essence of German nationality is this subdivision into petty states-an organization as favourable to the liberty of the subject at home as it is conducive to a peaceful foreign policy. At all events, it is now too late to change the nature of the Germanic constitutions, if we wish to derive a speedy aid from their influence. It would cost an exterminating war to reduce them under one sceptre, even if the attempt were at any price successful, which there is great reason to doubt. On the other hand, the guarantee of constitutional freedom to those states which have achieved that enviable boon-or, what amounts to the same thing, the declaration, on the part of Great Britain, of

THE INVIOLABITITY OF THE TERRITORY OF EACH INDIVI

DUAL STATE in cases of disputes between the people and their rulers-would prove a bond of union which would bind, in the strictest alliance, every Germanic state from the Alps to the Baltic. We say that such a declaration should be made by Great Britain, even if unsupported by any other power; for a step of this nature, taken by our government, would as neces

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